The HBO series Sex & The City once inspired viewers in droves to define themselves as being a Carrie or a Samantha or one of the other leading ladies. (I would’ve probably been a Miranda, for instance, but don’t hold me to it.) Deciding which characters were most representative revealed something about how well people knew the show, and how well the show knew them. A new ad for the premium channel portrays an office Santa handing out DVD sets to co-workers, letting each series’ thematic elements tell the recipient what he thinks of them. (Ho ho ho!)

Created by BBDO New York, the new ad follows an Office Space-like corporate stooge as he makes his way from desk to desk bearing gifts. With a big old grin on his face, the St. Nick surrogate explains why each person’s behavior made him think they might like, say, a certain series that features lots of indiscriminate sex. Perhaps the takeaway is that if a gift is nice enough, people will put up with being insulted in order to claim it.JB